Figure 1.--Buster Brown suits with bloomer style, above the knee pants were popular for boys at the turn of the century. They were generally worn with long stockings or three quarter-length socks. Note this boy has the classic Dutch Boy bangs often associated with Buster Brown suits.

Buster Brown was the subject of a popular series of films, the Buster Brown Commedies during 1925-29. They were based on the enormously successful Buster Brown sunday comics feature.

Filmography

The Buster Brown series of silent two-reel films ran from 1925-29. They were all silent films. The films were produced by Sten Brothers, for Universal. Gus Meins, who one source ironeoudsly identifies as the creator of the popular comic-strip character, directed a number of the two-reelers.

There may have been other silent films based on the cartoon character, but I don't know of any. I do not know of any talkies.

Actor

Buster was played by Arthur Trimble. Unfortunalely I have been able to find out very little about the boy. He did not go on to adult roles. He was usually accompanied by his dog Tige which in the film was the same dog that appeared in Our Gang as Pertty. Doreen Turner was the girl that appeared with him in the series.

Costuming

Buster's costuming in the Buster Brown Commedies series was very close to the original costume character. The movie was in black and white, but his tunic suit was presumably red. He wore the knickers above the knee, although the cartoon character wore them below the knee. His short socks and strap shoes were just like the cartoon, except he sometimes wore long stockings and when the cartoon character was drawn with short socks, they were often red like his tunic.

His cap was not the wide-brimmed sailor cap depicted in the cartoon, but rather a rather floppy large sailor cap. It was not a style that was widely worn with Buster Brown suits or other styles.

Figure 2.--Arthur had the classic Dutch boy bangs for the part. Here he is picture with Tige.

Hair Styles

Arthur wears a classic Dutch boys bangs hair cut. His bangs were cut straight across his forehead and the hair on the sides covered his ears. Most boys at the time wanted short hair and did not like bangs and longer hairstyles.

Cartoon

Although now known mostly as a coroprate symbol for a shoe company, Buster Brown was the best known boy character in 20th-Century America. He was also the subject of popular films. He was introduced to Americans by R.F.Outcault in his enormously popular Sunday cartoon series.

Figure 3.--Arthur is pictuted here with his two c-stars, Tige and Mary Jane who always appeared with him. The one strap shoes both children wore became known as Mary Janes after Buster's friend.

Style

The cartoonist, R.F.Outcault, picked up on prevailing styles in turn of the Century America. In doing so, however, he must have helped popularize the tunic suits, floppy bows, and Dutch boy haircuts. He also gave the style its name, the Buster Brown suit.

Created: July 15, 1998
Last updated: October 5, 2000